The British TV show Strictly Come Dancing approaches its 15th season this year. The winning formula, featuring celebrities and hoi polloi competing head-to-head for the season title, is a smash hit in the UK. Renowned for its visual razzmatazz, the show’s lighting depends on a vast network of data control, an essential component of which is the extremely powerful ProPlex IQ Two 1616.

“We purchased an IQ 1616 Ethernet-DMX node last autumn for Season 14,” says Mark Newell, Lighting Gaffer and Chief Systems Tech for the show. “It’s an integral part of a system incorporating two consoles and a media server, all outputting on the same network. We’ve been using the ProPlex node to output DMX for a grid of LED battens, pixel-mapped within the media server, and used to light any band extras or special props that the couples use during their dances.

“Because the consoles we use for Strictly have a limited number of outputs, we have to swap routing during the show. The ProPlex IQ 1616 is perfect for this job because we can easily change the routing very quickly using the large touchscreen display. Unlike other products of a similar nature, the large display on the IQ 1616 has all the information you need in a large font without having to go through lots of submenus to get to the required page. There is also an excellent web browser interface and both control options are very simple to use with no fuss. The 1616 really defines user friendly. In addition, to be able to purchase a 16-port device is great, as the cost saving over buying two 8-port devices makes it a very attractive option.

Newell adds, “The game show Big Heads we’re currently doing is being run from a single IQ Two 1616 in a very simple manner: 16 Art-Net outputs being generated by two consoles on the same network. I have other shows coming up and will certainly be using the ProPlex IQ Two 1616.”

Lighting Designer for Strictly Come Dancing is Mark Kenyon.

ProPlex IQ Two 1616 is a bidirectional, 16-universe node with 16 DMX ports, assignable with single button presses, all in one unit! Intuitive merging options such as HTP, EasyPriority™, Port Priority, and sACN priority simplify the most complex networking systems. ProPlex IQ nodes are part of a large family of ProPlex Data Distribution Devices featuring powerful, yet simple functionality in rugged, road-worthy platforms designed for the real world. Built for extreme conditions with shock-mounted circuitry and advanced thermal management, a variety of chassis options are available, including RackMount, PortableMount, Mini, Micro, DIN Rail, and IP Rated formats of various sizes.

TMB is exclusive distributor worldwide for ProPlex Data Distribution: tmb.com/category/control-data

Learn about other exciting products from TMB at www.tmb.com

PHOTO: By Radio Times, www.radiotimes.com

Strictly Come Dancing – Show Networking Made Easy with ProPlex IQ